Out with 2013 and In with 2014

In 2013 we found out we for sure had a blighted ovum. We waited until the first week of 2014 to make sure. Meds were stopped on a Friday, bleeding began on Saturday, the next day, and only lasted about a week. 5 days after bleeding started, beta went down to the 500s. 1 week after that, beta is down to a 59 and spotting  and cramps have peeked their ugly head today. Since I'm now low enough in my beta, it may not be my period, but if it is, that will be awesome timing to sync cycles with IM. We are looking at a March transfer if all goes to plan...

BETA After BETA with 2 Ultrasounds on the Side

As in my last post we got the surprise of a first BETA that was 25! My second jumped to a 112. My RE was expecting to see about a 50, so that was exciting! At that point I still was in shock and denial that I was even pregnant. Around came BETA 3 with a 202. Not too bad... it just about doubled.  Then 456 in just over doubling... "Maybe I'm pregnant after all," I'm thinking. BETA number 5 was at a 996. This is where their concern came in. At that point they were expecting to see at least a 2000. That voice in the back of my head is freaking out... "Is there something wrong?" Then the final BETA of 1764... still not even doubled from the previous. My nerves are on edge right now.

4 days after that last BETA was the first ultrasound. Right about then, according to the transfer date, I should have been about 6 1/2 weeks. The ultrasound showed 1 embryonic sac measuring 5 weeks 5 days. Doctor seemed concerned I was measuring so far being. The yolk was barely measurable since it wasn't very definitive and a baby wasn't visible enough to get a crown to rump measurement.

4 days later (yesterday) we went back again for another ultrasound to see if there was any progress at all. At this point I should have been a couple days past my 7 week. There should definitely be a heartbeat, even if it was a faint one, a heartbeat would be good to hear. This is what we saw...

The same 1 embryonic sac measuring now 5 weeks 4 days, still a not very definitive yolk sac and still no baby measurement. RE stated at this point, there shiuld be a 1/2 inch baby that should be easy to find and measure and with a heartbeat. We came up woth the same issues. Couldn't measure a baby and still no heartbeat. Right as the doctor left the room, my IM and I held each other for a good while sobbing.

Before we left, I got another BETA just to see where the numbers were. Now mind you, this is over a week since my last BETA, so I should be well above 10,000 ... my BETA was 2714. Again not even doubled from over a week ago.

If it had been lower than my number a week ago, my IPs would have felt it would be best to follow doctor's orders in stopping support (PIO) and allowing me to pass this pregnancy naturally without a d&c needed. Since the number is still higher they are asking me to continue support until after the holidays to keep the pregnancy sustained in hopes to have that glimmer of a hope and miracle to possibly happen. My next ultrasound will be January 3rd. 2 weeks will be a long enough time to for sure either see progress or not.

BETA #1

I've been taking hpt since the day of the tramsfer so I could see the positive the moment it appeared. By day 9, I had given up hope. All my results were negative up until that point. Learning that 3 different surrogates that went through a 3 day embryo transfer, had gotten their positives 5.5 (triplets), 7.5, and 8.5 days after their transfer, was my reasoning in why I had given up hope. Tuesday was BETA day. I had gone into the lab at 6:30n and then later called my IVF nurse to let her know I was expecting a negative result and to prepare to break bad news again to my IPs. Around 12:30 I got a call from my nurse saying it was positive! It is only a 25, but it's still pregnant! Right after that call (and the many others that followed), I went into the vathroom to take a digital first response so I could send a pic to my IPs and saying congrats, only for it to result in a big fat "NO -"... "FU," I thought, and threw it in the trash. I mustered up some more pee for one last attempt with a regular 2 pink line first response. The line was so faint that it wouldn't show up on a picture... way to ruin my plans... either way I'm excited and still a bit in shock that it was positive after I was so set on it being a failed cycle! Hoping and praying my numbers keep going up the way they are supposed to :)

Long Time No See...

Hello everyone! Wow it's been quite some time huh?

Since my last post, our transfer turned out to be a failed cycle. We had some complications.  Our of the 7 embryos only 3 made it to transfer day after the thaw, in which we transferred 2, one being a blastocyst.

We had 2 months of BCP before starting our next cycle. This cycle is a fresh one! IM was a bit discouraged this time, but we both keep in mind that the "third times a charm". This is her third egg retrieval and my third cycle. At first they only found 3 follicles so that was another basis for her discouragement. 3 grew to 5, which then grew to 7, which then grew to more! There were a total of 7 eggs retrieved, 6 mature, 4 fertilized. 1 stopped growing so we only had 3 left to work with by day 3.

Our RE stresses the importance of blastocysts and 5 day transfers and no more than 2 embryos on transfer and all that jazz. That's just how they roll. They wanted to go out of their protocol. Since he has been doing this for over 30 years, I trust his judgement. He said he just has a gut feeling and just knows when going out of protocol is what may work for his patients. With my IPs history of their embryos not enjoying the petri dish, he wanted to go with a 3 day transfer, letting them feel comfy in their surroundings as to encourage them to keep growing.

Another break of protocol he was very confident about was transfering all 3 instead of 2. He confessed he normally discourages it highly,  and he had not transferred 3 in many years. He felt the 2 8-celled (assisted hatched) and 1 7-celled (not assisted hatched) would result in a strong singelton or at very most twins (their preference). Again, this is not something I'd advise normally, but at the moment I felt as though it may be the right thing. So if anyone has any negative comments about my going along with 3 embryos, please do not waste your breath or time typing it up. I talked with my IPs as well with my husband and we were all in sync with thoughts and feelings, and honestly that's all that matters.

Right now we are 4 days into our 2ww. I've tested every single day since the transfer, including ON transfer day lol I'm well aware the test will show up negative no matter what the actual result is, but I want to have a comparison like last time, even though last time was all negatives. It is November 19th, only 7 more days until our BETA. It's scheduled for November 26th (2 days before thanksgiving! )... wouldn't it be great to give my IPs something to be thankful for on thanksgiving?

On another note, I'm extremely weary. I was to be excited, but don't want to be set up for disappointment again if this is another failed cycle.

Transfer Day!

It's finally here! I can't believe it! It felt like it would never come! After making the long trek to the office, we finally invited 2 beautiful embies into their new condo. IM doesn't want mw to share thw at home test results because she is worried about maybe false positives or negatives. So I will be keeping it to myself :) But so excited! I can't believe our first Beta is in only 8 days! Yikes! I hope I can keep my mind busy so I dont go crazy. Looks like lots of crafys and sewing in this next week for me :D

So today I wore a pair of my lucky socks that a friend Christina gave me for my appointment. Last week those lucky socks showed a 12.67mm lining. Finger crossed for my wonderful IPs and their little miracle

5 More Days

Yesterday was the estrogen and lining check. My estrogen level was at 527 so I got to bump my vivelle patches down from 4 to 2. Yipee!

On another note, I started those dreadful PIO shots which weren't too bad. They looks worse than they really are :)

Annnnnnnnd..... FIVE MORE DAYS UNTIL TRANSFER! We will be transferring 2 5 dayers! Super excited!

Suppressed!